Weiner, Really?

Remember how all the liberals jumped up and defended Mark Sanford’s right to stay in public office after his fall from grace in South Carolina?

Me, neither.

In fact, liberals were outragedthat South Carolina would elect a scoundrel like Sanford as a U.S. Representative after he tip-toed through the tulips with his Argentinian mistress:

“There’s a lot of women in South Carolina voting for Mark Sanford…. SC republican women are freaks”

“SC just elected a national joke to represent us in Congress. But we will all pay for this choice together. Thanks, rednecks”

“SC has got to be the most idiotic state to elect a lying SOB”

So, this whole thing where Weiner gets to sext once, resign, and be forgiven to the point where he’s leading in the New York mayoral race polls, and then sext once again, and once again be forgiven by the liberal community is just, well, hypocrisy doesn’t seem too strong a word.

The liberal community (including this liberal) was utterly disgusted with Sanford’s win. We condemned Newt Gingrich’s multiple infidelities. And the liberal community always circles back around to David Vitter’s transgressions, using the old “Well, Republicans are worse” argument, every time a Democrat gets his dick caught in a wringer.

And yet suddenly, Anthony Weiner – who made a fool of himself and a fool of his wife in 2011, and was forced to resign his seat as U.S. Rep as a result – comes forward now, hat in hand, dutiful wife Huma at his side, to admit that even after his resignation and even after his promises to New York voters that he was a changed man, he resumed sexting with some other random woman under the ridiculous pseudonym, Carlos Danger.

Notes Mike Zapler and Katie Glueck of Politico, “It was an astonishing admission: After an episode that wrecked his political career, nearly destroyed his marriage, and made him an object of international mockery, Weiner couldn’t stop himself from going back for more. Until now a leading contender for mayor, Weiner intends to seek forgiveness from New Yorkers, again.”

Does New York really want a guy as Mayor who’s mentally cemented at the age of about 16? Who is so proud of his manly parts that he can’t refrain from sending them around the hemisphere? While his faithful wife Huma stands at his side during his presser (listening to her husband describe how he, ya know, messed up again), he’s lovingly stroking his phone and thinking, “Huma who?”

As a liberal, I have tolerance for human foibles, and as a human being, I know how many human foibles I and everyone else has. But liberal or not, I have little tolerance for people like Weiner, whose ego eclipses any good sense, who believes wooing the voting public is like confession, where you confess your sins, say your ten thingies and go about your business of becoming mayor.

The liberal community I’m listening to seems to be confused: They see a desire for integrity in our elected officials as tantamount to puritanism. It’s not about sexual puritanism, it’s about the pursuit of integrity. This latest escapade sort of drives home the point that Weiner is not likely to be a better boy when he grows up. If tanking his career as a U.S. Congressman and coming perilously close to having his pregnant wife divorce him wasn’t enough to cure him of his compelling interest in sharing his man parts, it’s not likely that becoming mayor will do it either.

Too many cringe-worthy moments here, beginning with the shady outlines of what’s rumored to be a pic of Weiner’s penis on a cell phone, Weiner saying he thinks it’s okay that New Yorkers ask him questions about this “chapter” in his life, and ending with his wife being a good political wife and standing by her man, gazing at him adoringly while shifting from foot to foot and smiling randomly. If he wants to share and she’s okay with it, fine by me – as long as he steps out of the mayoral race. This “chapter” in his life seems to be stretching out indefinitely into novel length, and escalating in new and disturbing ways.

Liberals need to quit apologizing for this guy. I’m no puritan, but we have enough idiots with no sense in elected office; we don’t need more. And besides, we should be invested in raising the bar, not lowering it.

About Julie Driscoll

Julie is a 25-year veteran legal assistant in the Chicago legal community and, although always passionate about various causes, is a recent – within the past several years – entrant into the field of political activism. For a year and a half she was a writer for News Hounds, a website that is dedicated to critical analysis of Fox News (“We Watch Fox So You Don’t Have To”), is currently the Chicago Liberal Examiner for Examiner.com, is involved with the media side of the local MoveOn.org chapter, and runs multiple large political groups on Facebook. Although she began her activism through writing, she has more recently become a “boots on the ground” activist, having attended many protests on behalf of the unions in Madison, Wisconsin, Lansing, Michigan, and Chicago, as well as a rally in Benton Harbor, Michigan, advocating on behalf of the residents whose town has been taken over by the Emergency Financial Manager appointed by the Governor. Her causes are people-oriented . . . and her belief is that people need to be protected before dollars are counted. Her motto: Make sure people are safe, healthy, housed and fed – and screw the cost.

The Body Politic

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